The Bees take on Rochdale in the FA Cup first round replay at Spotland tonight, and barnetfc.com looks ahead to the game. The winners will face Forest Green Rovers in the next round.
Form
After a slow start consisting of a solitary win over The Bees in their first six games, Rochdale have recaptured the form that saw them enter the playoffs last season and now sit in fourth place, as one of the six teams on 27 points. One defeat in their last eleven League Two matches will have helped, including a 6-1 thrashing of Chester City last month.
They have only lost once away from home in the league and that was at high flying Bradford City and their last game was a creditable win in the capital at Brentford, stripping them of their playoff place.
In the cups so far, Dale were beaten on penalties at home to local rivals Oldham after a 0-0 draw. They also needed penalties to overcome Carlisle United in the JPT, but came a cropper to League One leaders Scunthorpe on Tuesday.
In the one game since the draw at Underhill, Dale were only able to pick up a point at home to struggling Macclesfield Town.
Last Meetings
The two sides have already met in the league this season at Spotland, and it was a disappointing 3-1 defeat against a strong looking Dale side. A well taken early strike by Adam Birchall was countered by goals from Adam Rundle, Chris Dagnall and Jon Shaw.
It was Dagnall again who was the scorer at Underhill last week, in a poor 1-1 draw. Ismail Yakubu got the equaliser, and spoke exclusively to Barnet World after the game with his thoughts.
Last season, Dale brushed aside The Bees at Spotland by three goals to nil. Whilst by no means a poor performance by Barnet, Rochdale were simply too strong and ran out comfortable winners on their marc h to Wembley. In the home fixture, there was not much to note in a dull 0-0 draw.
With Dale seemingly rooted to League Two, the two sides have met many times over the years with Barnet winning eleven of twenty five meetings, to Rochdale's six, two of those being at Underhill.
Players To Watch
Dale have built a lethal front line under Keith Hill and Chris Dagnall is top of the charts with seven in all competitions. Midfielder Will Buckley is attracting attention from leagues above and has six goals to his name. Lee Thorpe, Adam Le Fondre and Adam Rundle have all helped themselves to three goals so far.
Team News
Team News will be on barnetfc.com first!
Tickets
Click HERE for all the Ticket Info that you need. Ticket prices are reduced for the match.
Travel
The Reckless Guide To Rochdale gives you all the info you need for the trip.
Barnet World
As ever, Barnet World will be in the commentary box providing live and exclusive commentary if you can't make the game. Or, you could join us in the Pavilion where we will be broadcasting the commentary live on Barnet Burger Deal night! Full details HERE.
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James Harrison
